Find the length of the hypotenuse of a right triangle whose legs are 8 and 15 units in length.
Use c^2 = a^2 + b^2
Solve for the hypotenuse c.
a = 8 and b = 15
To find the length of the hypotenuse of a right triangle, we can use the Pythagorean theorem. The Pythagorean theorem states that in a right triangle, the square of the length of the hypotenuse (c) is equal to the sum of the squares of the lengths of the other two sides (a and b).
In this case, the lengths of the legs are given as 8 units and 15 units. Let's designate one leg as "a" and the other leg as "b". According to the Pythagorean theorem, we have:
c² = a² + b²
Substituting the values we have:
c² = 8² + 15²
Simplifying:
c² = 64 + 225
c² = 289
Now, to find the value of c, we need to take the square root of both sides:
c = √289
c = 17
Therefore, the length of the hypotenuse is 17 units.